LIVING WORD: WATTSTAX 2 / VARIOUS - To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the iconic Wattstax event that took place at the L.A. Memorial Coliseum on 20th August 1972, Stax Records reissues "The Living Word: Wattstax 2". These two LP's are cut from the original tapes by Chris Muth and feature performances by The Emotions, Johnnie Taylor, Kim Weston, Isaac Hayes and more.
Despite various reissue formats over several decades, the seven original LPs contained in Thelonious Monk - The Riverside Tenor Sessions stood perfectly well on their own at the time of initial release and remain among the highest achievements of a truly golden age. Recorded and released between 1956 and 1961, these seven Monk combo albums were critical in Monk's emergence from a decade of ridicule and neglect to his status at the pinnacle of the jazz pantheon. The sextet sessions from which Quartet Plus Two At the Blackhawk sprung started out as a collaboration. The occasion was Monk's second visit to San Francisco. He took his current quartet - Monk on piano; Charlie House, tenor sax; John ore, bass; and Billy Higgins, drums. Plus he added two of the most impressive horn men available on the West Coast - trumpeter Joe Gordon, and tenor sax player Harold Land. This vibrant live performance took place at the famed San Francisco jazz club in 1960. While the entire album showcases the group's remarkable chemistry and improvisational prowess, several standout tracks exemplify the quintet's dynamic energy and innovative approach to jazz. 'Epistrophy,' the iconic Monk composition, is given new life in a live setting, with it's infectious rhythms and memorable melody captivating the audience from the first note. The album displays brilliantly and evocatively several different facets of Monk - his artistry, and his magic. The addition of Land's horn makes for a very soulful set. In addition to some of his best recorded piano performances and more than two dozen of his profoundly personal compositions, the albums in this reissue series provide an overview of the era's major tenor saxophonists, with contributions by Sonny Rollins, Coleman Hawkins, John Coltrane, Johnny Griffin, Charlie Rouse and Harold Land. Max Roach, Art Blakely, Roy Haynes and Thad Jones are among the other jazz immortals featured on the essential Brilliant Corners, Monk's Music: Thelonious Monk Septet, Thelonious Monk and John Coltrane, Thelonious in Action, Misterioso, 5 by Monk by 5 and Quartet Plus Two At The Blackhawk. Thelonious Monk - Quartet Plus Two At the Blackhawk One of seven standout Thelonious Monk albums from the Riverside Records catalog! Reissued on 180-gram vinyl by Analogue Productions! Mastered AAA by Kevin Gray from the original analog master tape Pressed at Quality Record Pressings Tracklist: Side 1 1. Let's Call This 2. Four in One 3. I'm Getting Sentimental Over You Side 2 1. San Francisco Holiday 2. 'Round Midnight 3. Epistrophy (closing theme)
With so much virtuosity living inside bassist Gary Peacock and guitarist Ralph Towner, one might expect from this duo a showcase of lively showmanship. And while this is most certainly at it's heart, on the whole we are given an understated album recorded out of deepest respect for it's listeners. The improv is robust yet tender and marked by a distinct patina around the edges. Oracle is like the ocean: we know it's overall shape, but the movement of every wave is at the whim of something unseen that flows through all of us.
Limited 180gm vinyl LP pressing housed in a deluxe gatefold tip-on jacket. Lee Morgan's Infinity, which was recorded in 1965 but not released until 1981, finds the great trumpeter leading a robust quintet featuring saxophonist Jackie McLean, pianist Larry Willis, bassist Reggie Workman and drummer Billy Higgins to the far reaches of the hard bop tradition and beyond. Blue Note Tone Poet Series is remastered from the original analog tapes.
Easily one of the most important records ever made, John Coltrane's a Love Supreme was his pinnacle studio outing that at once compiled all of his innovations from his past, spoke of his current deep spirituality, and also gave a glimpse into the next two and a half years (sadly, those would be his last). Recorded at the end of 1964, Trane's classic quartet of Elvin Jones, McCoy Tyner, and Jimmy Garrison stepped into the studio and created one of the most thought-provoking, concise, and technically pleasing albums of their bountiful relationship (not to mention his best-selling to date). from the flowing (and classic) bass line at the intro to the last breathy notes, Trane is at the peak of his logical yet emotionally varied soloing while the rest of the group is remarkably in tune with Coltrane's spiritual vibe. Composed of four parts, each has a thematic progression leading to an understanding of spirituality through meditation.
The music for Assassin's Creed is here re-invented for piano, with the inspired playing of Nicolas Horvath. Recorded on a historic piano that formerly belonged to Nadia Boulanger, this album presents the iconic themes of the saga in a new artistic dimension, while totally respecting the milieu of the game. A landmark event, uniting musical demands with the culture of the video game.
Limited 180gm vinyl LP pressing. J.J. Johnson adapted the language of bebop to the trombone winning the admiration of Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker. After playing on Miles Davis' first Blue Note session, J.J. led several dates from 1953-55 with the likes of Clifford Brown, Charles Mingus, Horace Silver and Hank Mobley that were compiled on The Eminent Jay Jay Johnson, Vol. 2 (BLP 1506). This Blue Note Classic Vinyl Edition is mono, all-analog, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original masters, and pressed on 180g vinyl at Optimal.
Rudolf Kempe's recordings of Richard Strauss have long been prized for their unparalleled clarity and subtlety in music that has come to define the late-Romantic temperament and it's expression of highly strung emotions, whether in a state of Nietzschean exaltation, on the summits of 'Also sprach Zarathustra' or in the post-war despair of 'Metamorphosen'. Strauss loves the complex textures that Kempe and the Staatskapelle Dresden clarify with the utmost skill and sympathy
In his review of Mark Turner's last quartet effort for ECM, 2022's Return From The Stars, the Swiss daily Weltwoche's Peter Ruedi described the program as "the leanest, most concentrated, and most inspired improvised chamber music imaginable." It's a fitting description of the tenor saxophonist's powerful quartet endeavors, which seem to have arrived at their most sophisticated and hard-hitting on Patternmaster, an album that in many respects feels like a continuation and expansion of the group's last recording. Both boundless improvisation and cool control are driving motors behind a quartet that has molded it's common musical understanding over years on the road and in the studio. "The more you trust, the more chances you can take and the deeper you can go with people," says the leader, who feels that within this group's chemistry he can go "beyond craft and gage into the art of music more in depth."
The Comet Is Coming returns with their 2nd full-length album on Impulse! Records. King Shabaka, Danalogue, and Betamax's newest effort finds the trio creating a musical landscape that is equally cerebral as it is physically enthralling. While containing elements of jazz throughout, this release leans further into heavy dancehall themes, providing hypnotic, electronic soundscapes to dance to while keeping you intellectually stimulated.
Introducing a new piano trio from Norway, Tord Gustavsen's young group - already making waves in the Far North where "Changing Places" has soared into the pop charts - is telling new stories within the framework of the jazz tradition. This is music that sings, at once gentle and robust. The songs Gustavsen writes sound like standards-in-the-making. Lyrical, immediately memorable, they are songs of an appealing freshness yet sophisticated in their involvement with the melodic line. And the trio improvises, with flair and originality, inside their structures.
Pianist and Professor Emeritus of Music and Director of Jazz Studies at Arizona State University Chuck Marohnic (b. 1941) has an impressive background having played with Ira Sullivan, Eddie Jefferson & Richie Cole, Bill Hardman, Junior Cook, Chet Baker, Buddy Rich to mention a few. Marohnic was in Denmark in the summer of 1981 in European tour. He recorded this intriguing solo album in Copenhagen.
“The eight performances here are bright and absorbing examples of what Marohnic means when he says that awareness of the harmonic permutations of a tune gives a musician great freedom....” (Chris Sheridan)
New collaboration between Jakub Jozef Orlinski and Il Pomo d'Oro. Jakub's sixth project features music by early baroque composers, including Monteverdi, Caccini, Frescobaldi, Kapsberger, Saracini, Netti, and Jarzebski. Musicologist Yannis Francois researched the program and uncovered some extraordinary repertoire, now recorded for the first time (10 world premiere recordings). "With that album and this very specifically selected program I want to focus on the general meaning of word "beyond". Mostly to show people that this music is beyond it's times. It is still relevant, it is still alive, vibrant, touching, engaging and entertaining." - Jakub Jozef Orlinski.
SHOUT SISTER SHOUT: ROCK 'N' ROLL ORIGINATOR 38-56
ACROBAT
Vinyl
$28.64Jul 18, 2025
Sister Rosetta Tharpe was a gospel singer, songwriter and guitarist who was unique in her genre as the pioneer of performing gospel using an electric guitar, to the extent that many of her records and performances have been seen as early examples of rock 'n' roll, and she acquired the nicknames "the original soul sister" and "the Godmother of rock 'n' roll". Rock 'n' roll artists like Elvis Presley and Little Richard, and blues guitarists like Eric Clapton and Jeff beck cite her as an influence. This rocking 16 track LP includes releases with Lucky Millinder's Orchestra, duets with fellow gospel singer Marie Knight, and tracks where she is accompanied by The Sam Price Trio. Her work strayed into the mainstream R&B market, and this collection includes her US R&B hits "Strange Things Happening Every Day", "Precious Memories", "Up Above My Head I Hear Music In The Air" and "Silent Night" alongside single releases from her iconic album "Gospel Train". She was an artist who broke the mould of how gospel could be performed and this collection from a key era of her career is a substantial and entertaining showcase for her unique approach.
Otto Klemperer brings his customary nobility of conception to Die Zauberflote, with it's symbolic drama, and is joined by an exceptional cast. Gundula Janowitz sings Pamina with sublime beauty and the young Lucia Popp is brilliant as the Queen of the Night, the role that first made her reputation."Not the least extraordinary thing about this wonderful blend of the sublime and the humane is that it draws from all musicians the best of which they are capable... This issue is specially commended to those who are after the mystery and elevation of The Magic Flute." Gramophone
Tracked live at Speakeasy Studios in Burbank 'An Offering: Live at Speakeasy Studios' frames the music as a shared ritual: breath on the mic, count-offs, audience hush, and the lift of a last chord. Timed to Odom's high-profile return to Hamilton and a U.S. holiday tour, it's an intimate, headphone-ready document of a master interpreter and a road-tight band offering songs with grace and immediacy.
Vaughan Williams: A London Symphony / Hickox, London Symphony [Vinyl]
Chandos
Vinyl
$43.99Jun 24, 2014
Chandos presents its second LP re-release, the distinguished recording of Vaughan William’s original 1913 version of A London Symphony. This recording, featuring Richard Hickox and the London Symphony Orchestra, was met with universal critical acclaim upon initial release, being ‘destined for classic status’, according to Gramophone. This is the first and only recording of the original 1913 version of the symphony, containing about twenty minutes of music edited out of the familiar final version.
In 1964, vocalist Karin Krog released Norway's first jazz solo LP, and By Myself has helped shape her career as a singer. In 2026, 62 years after the first release, she releases the LP Tomorrow's Yesterday, and it cannot be ruled out that this may be her last physical album. All the songs are recorded in duo or trio format. The musical sounds are excitingly combined with her voice and Rob Luft on guitar, John Surman on saxophone/bass clarinet on side A. Whilst on side B we hear Karin Krog with Erlend Slettevoll on piano/electric piano and Rob Waring on vibraphone.
Schubert: The "Unfinished" on 45 RPM Vinyl / Klangkollektiv Wien
Gramola Records
Vinyl
$28.99$37.99Save 25%May 06, 2022
When the first bars of Schubert’s “Unfinished” Symphony reached the recording equipment in March of 2018, it wasn’t merely the musicians’ “daily grind” but rather the birth of an ensemble: the chamber orchestra Klangkollektiv Wien. The mission of the Klangkollektiv Wien is to perform the music of the Viennese Classical era with care and love, beyond more routine. This is why we - musicians from all of Vienna’s orchestras - came together for the first time. This music, which was at the onset of the development of the modern orchestra - with which we handle a diverse program of works from all different eras every day - becomes ever more an oasis of tranquility through its clear form and inner beauty, the epicenter of our lives as musicians. Our goal is to give these works the attention they deserve, to communicate their message to listeners. This first document of our common passion came about in collaboration with the conductor Remy Ballot and the record label Gramola, who were involved in this project’s development from the very beginning.
Thibaut Garcia is one of the most acclaimed classical guitarists of his generation, praised for a playing style that combines virtuosity and poetic sensitivity. Born from a deep artistic friendship with guitarist Antoine Morinere, this album offers a fresh take on Bach's masterpiece Goldberg Variations, now reimagined for two guitars. The arrangement, from Garcia and Moriniere themselves, is the result of a full year of work during which, quoting the artists, they focused on "how to adapt the keyboard work for two guitars, while preserving the illusion of a single performer". Twin guitars helped in their artistic endeavour: the album is recorded on two guitars cut from the same tree, and realized especially for the project by French luthier Hugo Cuvillier.
1965's Maiden Voyage remains one of the pinnacle artistic achievements of the great pianist's career. Hancock is joined by Miles Davis Quintet bandmates Ron Carter on bass & Tony Williams on drums, along with Freddie Hubbard on trumpet & George Coleman on tenor saxophone. The quintet embarks on an oceanic exploration of 5 original Hancock compositions, several of which have since become enduring standards of the jazz lexicon including the title track, "Eye of the Hurricane," and "Dolphin Dance."
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